*know that everything can happen in the child group, and we must help each other and don't see it as criticism. We must work with constructive criticism!"(Teacher, 7).*

Action number three was a morning meeting observed by a preschool teacher and documented by digital observation. The preschool teachers analysed the film and noticed that after only three morning sessions with warm-up activities, the children connected to the action as they finished after going to the toilet. The educators draw attention to the fact that there is less stress and a calmer environment than before. The team decided that the following action would mean that the educators have a similar arrangement and refrain from it having to be arranged based on their interests and instead focus on what the children feel good about and safe with.

The reflections from the participants at Oak Tree Preschool point out that the warm-up activity must have structure, both in time and content. They also discussed the possibility of working more collegially and collaboratively to improve their work in an environment that can create well-being.

#### **8.4 A narrative from the Cherry Tree Preschool**

The Cherry Tree preschool has twenty-two children and consists of a parent cooperative with staff and guardians on the board. Three preschool teachers, two childminders, one cook and a principal work here. The preschool's theme is the learning environment, which should stimulate discovery and learning with other children and adults. Outdoor activities with different physical movements are in focus. The staff and children felt it became messy and stressful when they came in before lunch, took off their clothes and washed their hands close to lunch. The time before all the children were ready for lunch meant that children had to wait if they wanted help, and it often got loud as the children did not know how to behave. Therefore, the staff wanted to change and improve the situation for the children when they would go in after being outdoors to create a calm environment and minimise stress for the children. They wanted this temporal gap to become an educational situation where the children would have the opportunity to gain experience and rest before lunch. The preschool teachers started thinking about which children (ages) should go in first, what the environment would look like, what to meet the children when they came in, and what activities they could do. During a planning day, possibilities were discussed for developing this element to become less stressful for the children and become educational, not just an interval between two activities.*" We were all stressed over the situation, even the staff. Still, the activity going inside, have been done in that way since I started to work here" (Preschool teacher nr 8).*

Action number one in this preschool consists of improvement when children come in for lunch. Before the action, the preschool teachers talked to the children about how they experienced the time before lunch and what they thought could improve the waiting time. Half of the children thought it was a little bit noisy, and half of the children meant that it was good enough. They suggested, "If we think it is noisy, we can be quiet or ask our friend to be quiet."(Child, 10). "We can wait outside on the bench so the smaller children can go in first, and we can read a book until everyone is ready for lunch" (Child, 8). (There is a bench near the door under the roof, with books available.)

The preschool teachers have divided up and entered in rounds, and they divide up once we enter; there are different sofas for the children to sit on and look at a book, and the educator who enters with the children is responsible for taking his group to "its place". The younger children have a play box with, for example, Duplo, books, toys, and different building materials, which are taken out when everyone has had a

new diaper. This creates a quiet moment before the meal, even though the children are both hungry and tired. There are tables to train fine motor skills in the hall for the younger ones. There is a TV monitor in the lobby where the children can look at slide shows before the food while they wait. There are books—and the preschool only has a small number of books available to create a community to look at together. The preschool teachers have placed a sofa in one of the rooms where the children who enter as a group sit together.

After the first action, the preschool teachers evaluated the activity and talked with the children. They noticed the action improved the situation before lunch; it was calmer and not so noisy, but they wanted to do more. In connection to the hall, there became a stressful situation when the children were going to visit the toilet before lunch. The doors to the bathroom were sometimes open, and the children felt that they did not have privacy, and it was noisy and messy. Sometimes, other children knocked on the door while others visited the toilet.

Action number two. The preschool teachers created footprints outside the toilets to facilitate queuing, reduce jostling, and create calm. They put numbers 1–10 at the large toilet to signal the children where to stand and wait before entering the bathroom. The children did receive any information on how to use these markings. They reflected on the new things and discussed and explained what they thought the footprints were and how to use them. The preschool teachers notice that the prints have worked very well, and without explaining to the children what the idea was, "You saw how the children took to the new thing and explained to each other what they thought the footprints were and how to use them" (Middle leader, 3).

During reflection after these actions, the preschool teachers noticed that the children could give their opinion and that the thoughts from them and the staff was similar in many ways. They decided to continue with the activities before lunch and keep the numbers outside the toilet to evaluate this further with the children. They wanted to go on with action number three: create calm after lunch. They have moved the children's after-lunch rest so that the group stays in each room to reduce jostling and give them a more peaceful environment. After lunch, every child goes to the toilet, and then the preschool teachers arrange them in their age group for after-lunch sleep. This moment often becomes messy and loud, and they continue to work on finding effective strategies to calm down together with the children. The action consists of an activity with three preschool teachers participating in the lobby to help with toilet visiting and support those children waiting to rest. The toddlers sleep in prams, and one staff arranges that. Another preschool teacher takes care of the 2–3-year-olds in one room and sets their rest on the floor. The third preschool teacher participates with the 4–5-year-old children, and they usually look at books, rest on the floor with music or whisper to each other.

After these actions, the preschool teachers notice that there must be one preschool teacher for each group; it becomes disturbing and stressful when they depart. They discussed the following action around the after-lunch rest and decided to try if it could be more smoothie if the children's rest accessories, such as stuffed animals and pillows, could be placed in the room where they should rest. At the time, all these things were in the lobby on the children's storage shelf.

#### **8.5 A narrative from the Pear Tree Preschool**

This preschool has 18 children and is a parent cooperative, with five children participating as informants. The preschool runs as a non-profit association with two preschool teachers, three childminders and a principal working at the preschool. The

#### *Preschool Improvement Practices DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113143*

preschool has movement and outdoor activities, a health-promoting approach as a profile. Before the first action, they talked with the children about what rest was, both pulse rate activities and activities for rest and all the children were familiar with the words and what they represent. The preschool teachers started to observe the children and what they chose to do (play) outside, the activities each child was occupied with. They talked about what they saw, what each of the children was playing outside, heart rate-raising and recuperative. "*We observe when we are out with the children and make notes by digital or handwritten field notes and take photos. We want to establish a routine so that the observations can take place in everyday life Teacher, 12)*. The middle leader reflects on the observations done so far; *The decision to observe was taken together, but absence or forgetfulness in the daily work affects the numbers of observations*" (Middle leader, 4) During the time when they intend to collect data they had some sickness in the staff group. The Middle leader meant that it affected the process, but they had observations with field notes and photos as a starting point for discussion and analysis. During this first observation, they could conclude that children (12) play pulse-raising and restorative games outside. Children (13) play wholesome, calm games outside and inside—children (14) play both recovery and pulse-raising activities. We have a child (15) who finds it easy to get active with pulse-raising activities but hard to find restorative exercises outside. The following action will involve discussing the children's mind map with the group of children. After that, in the third action, the children individually will take photos of the environment or activities they often do and like. They are going to use digital cameras. The middle leader (4) says that we think that Photo Voice is an excellent method to discover their perception of activities as pulsating or restful. It will be interesting to have more input from the children!"(Teacher 15).

The actions that have been done at this preschool have a strong touch of the child's participation in the project, and they focus on getting the children's opinions in from the start by using photo voice and discussing with them. It also shows that it could be challenging to create a base to do research on the daily.
